The School was established in 1890 by Shoyo Tsubouchi, one of the most famous playwrights and one of the leading Shakespearean scholars of the Meiji era. It has produced many outstanding scholars who have gone on to teach at the University, and has contributed many thinkers, educators and literary figures to Japanese society. A number of those who have studied in this School have become important writers, while others have been prominent in journalism, the theatre and cinema. In recent years, graduates who have specialized in psychology have found a place for their knowledge and skills in the business world.

The School, aiming at freedom and an innovative spirit in culture, has always maintained its own unique tradition, while always being aware of, and closely linked to, society outside the University, true to the progressive and anti-Establishment spirit that has always distinguished Waseda. We believe that it is this tradition that has made the School one of the best schools of literature in Japan. Today, the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences I has about 5,000 students and a faculty of more than 180 with 19 Majors. Because of its size, range and caliber, the School enjoys a reputation that in every way justifies describing it as one of the most prestigious university departments in Japan.

The School's nineteen Majors are: Philosophy, Asian Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Education, Humanities and Liberal Arts, Japanese, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, Theatre and Film Arts, Creative Writing, Japanese History, Asian History, Western History, History of Art and Archaeology.